Image analysis system

ABSTRACT

An application processor processes an application. A sensor processor acquires image data from an image sensor and analyzes the image data. The application processor acquires an image analysis result obtained by the sensor processor and posture information for specifying an orientation of the image sensor. The application processor acquires posture information obtained when the image sensor acquires image data to be analyzed by the sensor processor.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a system for analyzing image data.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, research and development of various types of robots havebeen performed. PTL 1 discloses a learning method for walking control bya legged mobile robot of the humanoid type. PTL 1 discloses a method forreinforcement-learning of, when a robot cannot stably walk along awalking trajectory given at an initial stage, a stable walkingtrajectory along which the robot can walk.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

[PTL 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-96068

SUMMARY Technical Problem

The robot technology is advancing day by day. Although pet-type robotsof the four-legged walking type have been the mainstream of commercialmodels, in recent years, humanoid robots that perform complicatedoperations such as dancing are distributed. It is expected that, byincrease of an arithmetic operation capacity and improvement of alearning model, a robot itself learns to improve existing functions andacquire new functions.

An action purpose and an action mode of an autonomous robot depend uponan application to be executed. An application for causing a robot toautonomously walk collects and analyzes environmental information aroundthe robot and calculates rotational speeds for a plurality of motorsconfiguring robot joints. A microcomputer for control is provided foreach motor, and the plurality of microcomputers supply power accordingto the calculated rotational speeds to the motors in synchronism withone another. For example, an application that has an action purpose offollowing a user specifies positions of the user and an obstacle in aspace from a camera image, determines a route along which to follow theuser, and calculates rotational speeds for the motors of the robotjoints such that the robot moves on the route.

In a robot, rotational speeds for a plurality of motors are calculatedon the basis of accurate data obtained by image sensing, and the motorsare rotated at the calculated rotational speeds without any time delayto implement an action mode according to an action purpose. If a robotis to be provided with an advanced autonomous action function, then thearithmetic operation amount by the application becomes great. However,in order to allow the robot to act even in such a case as justdescribed, it is necessary to build a mechanism for immediatelyimplementing an image sensing function and/or a motion controllingfunction.

The image sensing function is incorporated, at the present point oftime, not only in a robot but also in various kinds of mobile objectssuch as a vehicle driven by a person or a toy manipulated by a person(for example, a wireless remote-control car or the like). Therefore,there are expectations for achievement of an image analysis technologyincluding the image sensing function not only in the robot field butalso in various fields.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve the problem described above, an image analysis systemof one aspect of the present invention includes an application processorthat processes an application and a sensor processor that acquires imagedata from an image sensor and analyzes the image data. The applicationprocessor acquires an image analysis result obtained by the sensorprocessor and posture information for specifying an orientation of theimage sensor.

It is to be noted that also any combination of the constituent elementsdescribed above and those of representations of the present inventionconverted between a method, an apparatus, a system, a computer program,a recording medium in which the computer program is recorded readably, adata structure, and so forth are effective as modes of the presentinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view depicting a general configuration of an entertainmentsystem of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a view depicting a hardware configuration of a control system.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 depicts a general configuration of an entertainment system 1 ofan embodiment. The entertainment system 1 includes a robot apparatus 20and a server apparatus 10. The robot apparatus 20 is a mobile objectthat can walk autonomously and is connected for communication with theserver apparatus 10 via a network 2 such as the Internet through anaccess point (AP) 3.

The robot apparatus 20 is configured as a humanoid robot and is owned bya user who is an owner. Preferably, the robot apparatus 20 is capable ofrecognizing the owner by face authentication based on image analysis,voiceprint authentication based on voice analysis, or the like. Byrecognizing the owner, the robot apparatus 20 can, for example, acceptan instruction only from the owner and act according to the ownerinstruction.

Preferably, the robot apparatus 20 has parts similar to those of a humanbeing and has an external shape that gives a sense of friendliness tohuman beings. The robot apparatus 20 has a head, a neck, a trunk (achest, an abdomen, and a back), upper limbs, and lower limbs. The upperlimbs may each have an upper arm, a forearm, and a hand, and the lowerlimbs may each have a thigh, a lower leg, and a foot. The parts arecoupled to each other by an actuator. The actuator includes at least amotor arranged at a joint portion that is a movable part and a linkmechanism that couples one motor to another motor. The robot apparatus20 acts according to an action purpose while keeping a balance inposture by driving the actuators.

The robot apparatus 20 implements basic functions including walking andrunning functions and a function of avoiding an obstacle by a basicapplication program (hereinafter also referred to as a “basicapplication”) that describes controlling methods for the individualactuators. Since the basic application takes charge of the basicfunctions of the robot apparatus 20, it is preferably preinstalled inthe robot apparatus 20 and may be, for example, incorporated inmiddleware.

Any application program other than the basic application is an appliedapplication program (hereinafter also referred to as an “appliedapplication”). The applied application implements an additional functionsuch as a dancing function, for example. The applied application issupplied from the server apparatus 10 as occasion demands and isinstalled into the robot apparatus 20. The robot apparatus 20 acquires anew function by downloading and installing a new applied application.

FIG. 2 depicts a hardware configuration of a control system 4. Thecontrol system 4 of the embodiment includes architecture forimplementing immediacy of an image sensing function and a motioncontrolling function of the robot apparatus 20. The control system 4 hasa multiprocessor configuration and includes an application processor 30for processing an application, a sensor processor 50 for processingimage data, and a motion controlling processor 70 for controlling motionof movable parts of the robot apparatus 20. In the control system 4, theapplication processor 30 and the sensor processor 50 construct an imageanalysis system, and the application processor 30 and the motioncontrolling processor 70 construct a motion controlling system. Theapplication processor 30, the sensor processor 50, and the motioncontrolling processor 70 are provided in a housing of the robotapparatus 20, and two of the processors are connected for communicationto each other.

In this architecture, the application processor 30 operates as a mainprocessor. The sensor processor 50 carries out image analysis designatedby the application processor 30 and provides an image analysis result tothe application processor 30. The motion controlling processor 70 drivesand controls the actuators at rotational speeds designated by theapplication processor 30. Since the sensor processor 50 and the motioncontrolling processor 70 individually carry out corresponding processes,it is not necessary for the application processor 30 to have the imagesensing function and the motion controlling function, and a processingload on the application processor 30 can be reduced.

The application processor 30 executes a first operating system(hereinafter also referred to as a “first OS”) to process anapplication. The application to be processed includes both the basicapplication and the applied application. While processing a plurality ofbasic applications simultaneously, the application processor 30 alsoprocesses a necessary applied application. Therefore, the applicationprocessor 30 incorporates a plurality of central processing unit (CPU)cores therein. Preferably, the first OS is a general-purpose OS thatallows various applications to be executed simultaneously.

To the application processor 30, a display device 32, a speaker 34, acommunication device 36, and a microphone 38 are connected. The displaydevice 32 and the speaker 34 output an image and sound generated by theapplication processor 30, respectively, to present information to theuser. The communication device 36 establishes connection to the AP 3 bya wireless local area network (LAN) and communicates with the serverapparatus 10 through the AP 3. The communication device 36 may have aportable telephone communication function. The communication device 36can download an applied application and a patch file from the serverapparatus 10. The microphone 38 collects ambient sound, converts it intoa sound signal, and provides the sound signal to the applicationprocessor 30. The application processor 30 may have a sound recognitionfunction such that it determines an action on the basis of a voiceinstruction by the user.

The sensor processor 50 is a processor that carriers out the imagesensing function and is connected to an image sensor 52, a distancesensor 54, and an event-driven type sensor 56. The image sensor 52, thedistance sensor 54, and the event-driven type sensor 56 are incorporatedin the robot apparatus 20 and operate as visual sensors that acquireperipheral information of the robot apparatus 20, and the sensorprocessor 50 takes charge of a recognition function in terms of vision.

The image sensor 52 is a camera and provides an RGB image captured in apredetermined cycle (for example, 1/60 second) to the sensor processor50. The distance sensor 54 may be a time-of-flight (TOF) distance imagesensor and supplies a three-dimensional distance image to the sensorprocessor 50. The event-driven type sensor 56 is a sensor that detects achange in luminance value of a pixel of an imaging element and suppliesa combination of a time of detection and pixel coordinates to the sensorprocessor 50. The distance sensor 54 and the event-driven type sensor 56are information sensors that detect information relating to an imagingtarget included in image data.

The event-driven type sensor 56 has a dynamic range wider than that ofthe image sensor 52 and can accurately detect a movement of an imagingtarget even in an environment in which incident light exceeding thedynamic range of the image sensor 52 exists. Further, since theevent-driven type sensor 56 can detect a movement of an imaging targetwith time resolution higher than that of the image sensor 52, when thesensor processor 50 processes image data acquired by the image sensor52, it can complementarily utilize the movement information acquired bythe event-driven type sensor 56.

The sensor processor 50 executes a second operating system (hereinafteralso referred to as a “second OS”) to process image data acquired by theimage sensor 52. The sensor processor 50 may have a neural network thatrecognizes a target object included in the image data by using amachine-learned model. The sensor processor 50 acquires depthinformation of an imaging target from the distance sensor 54 andmovement information of the imaging target from the event-driven typesensor 56, and analyzes the image data acquired from the image sensor 52by using the imaging target information. The application processor 30designates an image analysis function to be carried out, according tothe application to be processed, for the sensor processor 50.

For example, when the application processor 30 processes an applicationfor causing the robot apparatus 20 to follow the owner that is afollowing target, it requests the sensor processor 50 to specify theposition of the owner. Receiving the request, the sensor processor 50sets a parameter set for image analysis for recognizing the owner from acaptured image to the neural network and carries out a process forrecognizing the owner by image analysis. It is to be noted that, whilethe parameter set for owner recognition may be stored in a storagedevice (not depicted) connected to the sensor processor 50, it mayotherwise be supplied from the application processor 30. The sensorprocessor 50 may execute a process for analyzing image data, taking theimaging target information acquired by the distance sensor 54 and theevent-driven type sensor 56 into consideration.

The sensor processor 50 may have a learning function of optimizing theparameter set for the neural network in order to implement the imageanalysis function specialized for the application. In this example,preferably the sensor processor 50 carries out learning for optimizingthe parameter set for owner recognition in advance and optimizes theparameter set before the application processor 30 carries out theapplication for following the owner.

An objective function (error function) in the learning function comparesan output obtained by inputting an image for learning to the neuralnetwork and a correct value corresponding to the image (namely, the factthat a target person is the owner) to calculate an error. The learningfunction calculates a gradient for a parameter by a gradientback-propagation method or the like on the basis of the error andupdates the optimization target parameter of the neural network on thebasis of the momentum method. By performing learning specialized for theapplication, an optimum parameter set can be created for eachapplication, and an accurate image analysis function is implemented. Itis to be noted that the sensor processor 50 may have a learning functionof a different type.

For example, when the application processor 30 processes an applicationby which the robot apparatus 20 predicts a destination of a particularmoving object and goes to the destination before the object does, thesensor processor 50 predicts a trajectory of movement of the particularobject while carrying out image analysis of recognizing the object.Since the event-driven type sensor 56 detects movement information ofthe imaging target with high time resolution, the movement informationcan be utilized suitably for accurate movement prediction. The sensorprocessor 50 predicts a trajectory of movement of the particular objecton the basis of information from the image sensor 52, the distancesensor 54, and the event-driven type sensor 56.

Further, when the application processor 30 processes an application bywhich the robot apparatus 20 performs a movement synchronized with amovement such as a gesture of the owner, the sensor processor 50 mayrecognize a movement of the owner while carrying out image analysis forrecognizing the owner and may further predict a movement in the future.The sensor processor 50 may acquire movement information of the ownerdetected by the event-driven type sensor 56 to recognize a movement atpresent of the owner and predict a movement that will be made, on thebasis of the movement information obtained so far. If the sensorprocessor 50 predicts a movement of the owner, then it becomes possiblefor the robot apparatus 20 to move anticipating a movement of the owner.

The second OS executed by the sensor processor 50 in such a manner asdescribed above preferably is an OS that controls the neural network forimage analysis. The second OS is a special OS suitable for the neuralnetwork, and accordingly, the second OS is not a general-purpose OS andis different from the first OS.

The motion controlling processor 70 is a processor for controllingmotion of movable parts of the robot apparatus 20 and is connected to aplurality of motion sensors 72, a plurality of touch sensors 74, and aplurality of microcomputers 76 a to 76 n (in the following description,when they are not specifically distinguished from each other, each ofthem is referred to as a “microcomputer 76”). One microcomputer 76 takescharge of driving of one motor. The motion controlling processor 70takes charge of a motion controlling function of the robot apparatus 20and controls the microcomputer 76 to supply driving current to themotor.

Each motion sensor 72 includes a three-axis acceleration sensor and athree-axis gyro sensor. The motion sensor 72 may be provided at eachjoint portion and provide sensor data indicative of a position and aposture of the joint portion in a three-dimensional space and/or sensordata indicative of a change in position and posture to the motioncontrolling processor 70. It is to be noted that, in the embodiment, themotion sensor 72 may be provided at the position of the image sensor 52such that sensor data indicative of a position and a posture of theimage sensor 52 in the three-dimensional space and/or sensor dataindicative of a change in position and posture is provided to the motioncontrolling processor 70. Each touch sensor 74 is provided on an outersurface of the robot apparatus 20 and detects contact with the robotapparatus 20.

The motion controlling processor 70 executes a third operating system(hereinafter also referred to as a “third OS”) to control motion of amovable part of the robot apparatus 20, namely, rotation of a motor. Therole of the motion controlling processor 70 is to manage themicrocomputer 76 on a real-time basis such that each motor rotates at arotational speed calculated by the application processor 30, and itsfurther important role is to prevent fall of the robot apparatus 20. Tothis end, as a premise to satisfy a motion request from the applicationprocessor 30, the motion controlling processor 70 normally monitorssensor data of the motion sensor 72 and carries out a posturecontrolling application for fall prevention. For example, when the robotapparatus 20 hits an obstacle and is about to fall, the motioncontrolling processor 70 immediately executes motor control for fallprevention.

In this manner, immediacy is required for motor control by the motioncontrolling processor 70. Therefore, the third OS executed by the motioncontrolling processor 70 preferably is a real-time OS. The real-time OSis an OS that is designed such that a particular application such as aposture controlling application is executed at a timing with highaccuracy and can perform real-time processing of the application.Naturally, the third OS is different from both the first OS and thesecond OS.

The application processor 30, the sensor processor 50, and the motioncontrolling processor 70 are configured in such a manner as describedabove. For example, when an application for causing the robot apparatus20 to follow the owner who is a following target is to be executed, itis necessary for the application processor 30 to find the position ofthe owner in the space and the position in the space of an obstacleexisting between the robot apparatus 20 and the owner. Therefore, theapplication processor 30 instructs the sensor processor 50 to specifythe positions of the owner and an obstacle included in image data of theimage sensor 52. In the following description, each of the owner and anobstacle that become recognition targets of the application processor 30is simply referred to as a “target.”

The sensor processor 50 acquires image data from the image sensor 52 andcarries out image analysis designated by the application processor 30,by using depth information of the distance sensor 54 and movementinformation of the event-driven type sensor 56. The sensor processor 50provides the application processor 30 with an image analysis resultincluding position coordinates of each target in a camera coordinatesystem having the origin at the image sensor 52. This image analysisresult also includes depth information (distance information) of thetarget in the camera coordinate system. Accordingly, the applicationprocessor 30 can specify three-dimensional coordinates of the target inthe camera coordinate system having the origin at the image sensor 52.

The motion controlling processor 70 provides posture information forspecifying the orientation of the image sensor 52 to the sensorprocessor 50. This posture information may include information forspecifying the position of the image sensor 52. In short, the postureinformation includes information for specifying the orientation and theposition of an optical axis in the space when the image sensor 52acquires the image data. The position of each of the joint portions andthe main parts in the robot apparatus 20 is defined by a robotcoordinate system in which the origin is a reference position in therobot machine body. The motion controlling processor 70 constantlycalculates three-dimensional coordinates of the reference position in athree-dimensional actual space coordinate system (space coordinatesystem), and creates posture information for specifying the orientationand the position of the image sensor 52 in the space coordinate systemby specifying the orientation and the position of the image sensor 52 inthe robot coordinate system. The sensor processor 50 transmits the imageanalysis result to the application processor 30 together with theposture information of the image sensor 52.

The application processor 30 specifies the orientation and the positionof the image sensor 52 in the space coordinate system by acquiring theposture information and specifies the three-dimensional coordinates ofthe image sensor 52 in the camera coordinate system by acquiring theimage analysis result. The application processor 30 thereby acquires thethree-dimensional coordinates of the target in the space coordinatesystem.

The motion controlling processor 70 provides the posture informationobtained when the image data to be analyzed by the sensor processor 50is acquired by the image sensor 52 to the sensor processor 50. Themotion controlling processor 70 may derive the posture information ofthe image sensor 52 from the sensor data of the motion sensor 72provided at each joint portion. It is to be noted that, when a motionsensor 72 is provided at the installation position of the image sensor52, the motion controlling processor 70 may derive the postureinformation of the image sensor 52 by using sensor data of the motionsensor 72.

The sensor processor 50 notifies the motion controlling processor 70 ofan image capture time of the image data to be used for analysis, and themotion controlling processor 70 provides the posture information of theimage sensor 52 at a time same as the image capture time to the sensorprocessor 50. The motion controlling processor 70 constantly carries outthe posture controlling application and calculates position coordinatesof the joint portions and the main parts in a sampling cycle muchshorter than the image analysis cycle (for example, 1/60 second) of thesensor processor 50. The motion controlling processor 70 in theembodiment may derive the posture information of the image sensor 52 inthis sampling cycle and store the posture information into a storagedevice (not depicted) together with the time information such that, whenit receives a notification of an image capture time of image data, itreads out the posture information of the image sensor 52 at a time sameas the image capture time from the storage device and provides theposture information to the sensor processor 50.

The sensor processor 50 is provided with posture information from themotion controlling processor 70 during analysis of the image data. Whenthe sensor processor 50 ends the analysis of the image data, it adds theposture information of the image sensor 52 as metadata to the imageanalysis result and provides the resulting image analysis result to theapplication processor 30. The application processor 30 specifies theposition of the target in the space from the image analysis result andthe posture information.

The motion controlling processor 70 in the embodiment provides theposture information of the image sensor 52 to the sensor processor 50,not via the application processor 30. In short, the motion controllingprocessor 70 directly provides the posture information to the sensorprocessor 50 through a bus that connects the motion controllingprocessor 70 and the sensor processor 50 to each other.

In ordinary architecture design, since the application processor 30 thatis a main processor relays data transmission between other processors, adata transmission time is a sum additionally including a relay time bythe application processor 30. On the other hand, since, in the controlsystem 4, the sensor processor 50 and the motion controlling processor70 are connected to each other by the bus, when the motion controllingprocessor 70 provides posture information of the image sensor 52 to thesensor processor 50, directly providing the posture information to thesensor processor 50 achieves shorter transmission time as compared totransmitting the posture information via the application server 30.Therefore, in order to increase the real-time property, the motioncontrolling processor 70 transmits the posture information of the imagesensor 52 directly to the sensor processor 50.

At the time of image analysis, the sensor processor 50 may issue arequest for provision of posture information of the image sensor 52, tothe motion controlling processor 70. At this time, the sensor processor50 may notify the motion controlling processor 70 of the image capturetime of the image data to be used in the analysis. When the motioncontrolling processor 70 receives the request for provision of postureinformation, it provides the posture information of the image sensor 52directly to the sensor processor 50. When the motion controllingprocessor 70 is notified of the image capture time of the image data, itmay thereafter provide posture information cyclically according to theimage analysis cycle of the sensor processor 50. For example, when theimage analysis cycle of the sensor processor 50 is 1/60 second, themotion controlling processor 70 may provide posture information to thesensor processor 50 in the same cycle from a start point set at thisnotified image capture time. It is to be noted that the motioncontrolling processor 70 may otherwise provide posture informationcyclically to the sensor processor 50 without depending upon the requestfrom the sensor processor 50.

The sensor processor 50 adds the posture information as metadata to theimage analysis result and provides the resulting image analysis resultto the application processor 30. Consequently, the application processor30 can specify the position of the target in the space. It is to benoted that, although the sensor processor 50 provides the image analysisresult, it does not provide the image data used in the image analysis tothe application processor 30. In the control system 4, the fact that thesensor processor 50 does not provide image data to the applicationprocessor 30 decreases a transmission delay risk from the sensorprocessor 50 to the application processor 30, so that the image analysisresult is provided to the application processor 30 without a time delay.Further, the fact that the sensor processor 50 does not provide imagedata to the application processor 30 prevents such a situation thatimage data including personal information leaks to the outside of therobot apparatus 20.

It is to be noted that the sensor processor 50 may otherwise provide theimage analysis result to the motion controlling processor 70. Forexample, when the motion controlling processor 70 has a trackingfunction of a predetermined target, it may control an autonomoustracking action by using the image analysis result by the sensorprocessor 50.

As described above, in the control system 4, the sensor processor 50 andthe motion controlling processor 70 are provided to avoid a situationthat the load is concentrated on the application processor 30. Further,since each of the application processor 30, the sensor processor 50, andthe motion controlling processor 70 executes an OS suitable for thecorresponding process, the immediacy of the control system 4 as a wholeis improved.

The present invention has been described on the basis of the embodiment.The embodiment is exemplary, and it is understood by those skilled inthe art that various modifications are possible in regard to thecombination of the components and the processes and that also suchmodifications fall within the scope of the present invention. It issufficient if the robot apparatus 20 is a movable robot, and the robotapparatus 20 is not limited to a two-legged walking robot. Further, therobot apparatus 20 may be an industrial robot or the like.

In the embodiment, it is described that the sensor processor 50 performsa process for analyzing captured image data of the image sensor 52incorporated in the robot apparatus 20. Although, in the controllingsystem 4, the application processor 30 and the sensor processor 50construct an image analysis system, the image analysis system can beutilized also when the analysis process is performed for captured imagedata of an image sensor incorporated in mobile objects other than therobot apparatus 20. The image analysis system may be utilized foranalysis of image data of an image sensor incorporated in various kindsof mobile objects such as a vehicle driven by a person or a toymanipulated by a person (for example, a wireless remote-control car orthe like).

Although, in the embodiment, the motion controlling processor 70provides posture information of the image sensor 52 to the sensorprocessor 50, it may otherwise provide the posture information to theapplication processor 30. At this time, the application processor 30holds the posture information without transferring it to the sensorprocessor 50 and links the posture information to an image analysisresult provided from the sensor processor 50. The application processor30 refers to an image capture time of image data used in image analysisand included in the image analysis result and an acquisition time ofsensor data used in derivation of the posture information and includedin the posture information, to link the image analysis result and theposture information at the same timing to each other, and utilizes themfor specification of the position of a target in a space.

In the embodiment, an example has been described in which theapplication processor 30, the sensor processor 50, and the motioncontrolling processor 70 are provided in the housing of the robotapparatus 20. In a modification, the sensor processor 50 and the motioncontrolling processor 70 may be provided in the housing of the robotapparatus 20 while the application processor 30 is provided outside thehousing of the robot apparatus 20. By providing the function of theapplication processor 30 outside the robot apparatus 20, for example, inthe server apparatus 10, it is possible to provide a high processingcapacity to the application processor 30 and cause the applicationprocessor 30 to perform a complicated arithmetic operation process.

Although, in the embodiment, it is described that the sensor processor50 does not provide image data to the application processor 30, if theuser sets a predetermined operation mode, then it may be made possiblefor the sensor processor 50 to provide image data.

While a main power supply to the robot apparatus 20 is off, theevent-driven type sensor 56, the motion sensor 72, and the touch sensor74 may be driven by using standby power. The robot apparatus 20 may beconfigured such that, when at least one of the event-driven type sensor56, the motion sensor 72, and the touch sensor 74 detects predeterminedinformation, the main power supply is automatically turned on.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can be utilized in a system for analyzing imagedata.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   1: Entertainment system-   2: Network-   3: AP-   4: Control system-   10: Server apparatus-   20: Robot apparatus-   30: Application processor-   32: Display device-   34: Speaker-   36: Communication device-   38: Microphone-   50: Sensor processor-   52: Image sensor-   54: Distance sensor-   56: Event-driven type sensor-   70: Motion controlling processor-   72: Motion sensor-   74: Touch sensor-   76: Microcomputer

1. An image analysis system comprising: an application processor thatprocesses an application; and a sensor processor that acquires imagedata from an image sensor and analyzes the image data, wherein theapplication processor acquires an image analysis result obtained by thesensor processor and posture information for specifying an orientationof the image sensor.
 2. The image analysis system according to claim 1,wherein the application processor acquires posture information obtainedwhen the image sensor acquires the image data to be analyzed by thesensor processor.
 3. The image analysis system according to claim 1,wherein the sensor processor provides the image analysis result to theapplication processor.
 4. The image analysis system according to claim1, wherein the sensor processor adds the posture information as metadatato the image analysis result.
 5. The image analysis system according toclaim 1, wherein the image sensor is incorporated in a mobile object. 6.The image analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the sensorprocessor does not provide the image data used in the image analysis tothe application processor.
 7. The image analysis system according toclaim 1, wherein the application processor designates an image analysisfunction to be carried out, according to the application to beprocessed, for the sensor processor.
 8. The image analysis systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the sensor processor is connected to aninformation sensor for detecting information relating to an imagingtarget included in image data and analyzes the image data by using theinformation acquired by the information sensor.
 9. The image analysissystem according to claim 1, wherein the image analysis result includesposition coordinates of a target in a camera coordinate system having anorigin at the image sensor.